U.S. Pat. No. 5,872,545 discloses a multi-plate stack type microwave antenna, comprising a set of slot radiating elements arranged as a matrix of columns and rows. The basic antenna package consists of three plates with openings and two plates comprising feed lines that allow the forming of two receiving beams having a specified angle between them. Antenna includes also at least another two plates comprising feed lines so that each one of the beams to be able to support two polarizations. These feed lines could be arranged as microstrip lines, parallel waveguides, twin-lead transmission lines or combination between them. These lines are arranged in pairs rotated at 90° angle to each other. The disclosed antenna could be used to receive signals from two separate geostationary satellites.
The disadvantage of the antenna described above is its considerable height, preventing its application on mobile platforms, while any attempt for its height reduction will lead to unacceptable degradation of the antenna performance.